DVD Videos

Production by Bartlett Sher; recorded in 2011

In spring 2011, the first-ever performances at New York's Metropolitan Opera of Rossini's Le Comte Ory brought standing ovations and critical-acclaim. The spectacular trio of Juan Diego Florez, Diana Damrau and Joyce DiDonato ignited vocal and theatrical fireworks.

Le Comte Ory tells the story of a libidinous and cunning nobleman who disguises himself first as a hermit and then as a nun ("Sister Colette") in order to gain access to the virtuous Countess Adele, whose brother is away at the Crusades. The 2011 Met production was directed by the Tony Award-winning Broadway director Bartlett Sher, who in recent years has also staged Il barbiere di Siviglia and Les Contes d'Hoffman for the Met. Sher presented the action as an opera within an opera, updated the action by a few centuries and giving the costume designer, Catherine Zuber, the opportunity to create some particularly extravagant headgear. Juan Diego Florez starred as the title role while Diana Damrau plays his love interest, Countess Adele, and Joyce DiDonato was in breeches as his pageboy Isolier. The trio had appeared in Sher's production of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

The New York Times praised "the terrific cast", citing Damrau's "lustrous, agile coloratura soprano voice, and charisma galore" and describing how DiDonato, "who sang with plush sound and impeccable passagework, sent top notes soaring and conveyed all the swagger of a smitten page."

The Financial Times named Florez, "a bel-canto paragon virtually without peer. He attacks and/or floats top tones with laughing ease, phrases with slender grace and exudes charm even when impersonating a singing nun". The Wall Street Journal said: "It was a treat to hear Mr. Florez navigate the vocal extremes of the role, popping out high C's while adopting a rascally but winning demeanor."

Conducted with verve and finesse by Rossini specialist Maurizio Benini, the production also features the stylish French baritone Stephane Degout as Ory's bibulous conspirator Raimbaud (quite a change from his previous Met role - Debussy's gentle Pelleas), charismatic Italian bass Michele Pertusi as the Count's long-suffering Tutor, and, formidable as Adele's housekeeper Ragonde, the Swedish dramatic mezzo Susanne Resmark.

Set Design by FRANCESCO CALCAGNINI

In Parma, where audiences are considered the most discerning in all Italy, the benchmark for vocal artists is set traditionally high. Operagoers here are intimately familiar with the works of their favourites, from Rossini to Puccini, and know every tricky corner by heart. God forbid any singer who fails to accomplish the task without due seemliness… Unsurprisingly, then, this performance attempts no directorial experiments. The main setting for this realistically inspired production – both indoors and out – is Rosina’s house, which is converted as required into its constituent parts. One happily turns a blind eye to a (historically authentically dressed) protagonist occasionally being seconded to move a piece of stage scenery. Stage presence, vocal perfection and above all the audibly and visibly gleeful participation of all performers in the action are a more than adequate payoff for the intellectual flights of fancy of other interpretations.

Our rewards are found on the one hand in the precise and sure-footed direction of Stefano Vizioli. All performers know exactly the role they are required to play and how best to carry it off. On the other hand, the singers on stage and instrumentalists in the pit seem to enter a new dimension as soon as the Rossini machine gets up to speed. The spirited orchestra plays under the magical baton of Andrea Battistoni, born in Verona in 1987 and appointed principal guest conductor at Parma’s Teatro Regio in January 2011.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.0

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 5 + DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: IT (Original Language), GB, DE, FR, ES, JP, Korean

Running Time: 170 mins

FSK: 0

Set by JEAN-MARC STEHLÉ & ANTOINE FONTAINE

This production of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, staged by Coline Serreau, was presented at the Opera Bastille for the fi rst time in 2002. It was the successful film director’s second opera project.

The international cast features one of the leading lyric mezzos working in the Rossini repertoire – American Joyce DiDonato sings Rosina. German-Italian star tenor Roberto Saccà takes the role of her seducer, Count Almaviva and Czech baritone Dalibor Jenis, currently one of the best Figaros available, completes the leading trio. Delicate Spanish bass baritone Carlos Chausson playing Bartolo, Rosina’s guardian, and Icelandic bass Kristinn Sigmundsson as the curious music teacher Basilio provide suitable buffo material for the opera’s various comic scenes.

Bruno Campanella, one of the leading interpreters of the Belcanto repertoire worldwide led this musically excellent event from the pit.

French director Coline Serreau, best known for her film „Three men and a baby“ and her 70’s feminist documentaries sets the opera in a Seville under Osmanic occupation. For Serreau, the story of the imprisoned Rosina remains current in modern society where „the imprisonment of half of mankind is still the rule“.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: IT (Original Language), GB, DE, FR, ES

Running Time: 152 mins

FSK: 0

Described as “the great Verdian bass” (Le Figaro) and a “Mefistofele who stood out over all the others” (Der Neue Merker), Carlo Colombara brings some of the most famous bass rôles to life in this wide-ranging programme. Emotions range from the pride of Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen, through the terrors of Verdi’s Attila, to the tender recollections of Rachmaninov’s Aleko. Mephistopheles strides powerfully through both Gounod and Boito’s operas, and Rossini’s comic wit contrasts with the darkness of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov.

In 1986 he won the prize for the best Italian singer in the G. B. Viotti Competition and the following year he won the As.Li.Co competition before making his début at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome in Ernani. His subsequent career has brought appearances in the most important theatres of the world, in Tokyo, London, Berlin, Vienna, Milan, New York, Zurich, Barcelona, where he now lives, Verona and elsewhere.

Box set comprised of the following popular operas already available in the Dynamic catalogue

Region Code: 0

Picture format: 16:9

Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / Dolby digital 5.1

Booklet notes: Ita / Eng / Fre / Ger

Subtitles: Ita / Eng / Fre / Ger / Spa

Running time: 171+142 mins

AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE

This DVD includes two major works of Russian repertoire for which Gergiev is famous. While he emphasises the lightness and vitality of Prokofiev’s “Classical” Symphony, Gergiev pours his entire soul into Tchaikovsky’s grand, exultant Fifth Symphony.

Includes a fascinating 23 minutes Documentary about the orchestra, founded by Sir Georg Solti. The orchestra draws its roster from the great orchestras of the world - even the back bench violins are first and second desk players at home.

The Abu Dhabi Festival is regarded as the United Arab Emirates’ largest and most prestigious classical arts event.

“The conductor Valery Gergiev has become one of Russia’s most potent cultural symbols. [...] From the works of Mikhail Glinka to those of Shostakovich, the core of the Russian repertory is infused with a direct emotional appeal. When he conducts those scores (indeed, when he conducts anything), Gergiev is seeking a gut connection between the music and the audience.” The New York Times

Running Time Total: 104 minutes

Symphonies: 83 minutes

Documentary: 21 minutes

Picture 16:9, color

Sound PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1

(Bonus: PCM Stereo)

Subtitles Documentary: German,

English (original language)

Set Design by ESTEL CHRISTÀ, MAX GLAENZEL

Arthaus presents an ebullient and colourful staging of Rossini‘s one-act dramma giocoso at the Gran Theatre del Liceu, Barcelona. This opera was originally commissioned for the coronation of Charles X as King of France in Reims cathedral; thus it was written not for the stage, but for a special occasion, which Rossini did not intend to become part of the repertory: he only permitted it to be performed a few times so as to be free to re-use the music, which he did mainly in Le Comte Ory (1828). The opera has also suffered from the difficulty of assembling a cast more than three times that of a normal opera buffa and composed exclusively of outstanding virtuosi.

The undeniable attraction of Viaggio a Reims lies in the libretto, with its biting irony and playfulness characteristic of Rossini‘s comic operas and above all in the extraordinarily brilliant score, comprising arias, duets and ensembles that afford ample scope for the singers to show off their talents and feature some of Rossini‘s most elaborate and spectacular vocal writing.

Sound Format: DD 2.0, DD 5.1

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Picture Format: 16:9

Subtitle Languages: GB, DE, FR, ES, IT, Catalan

FSK: 0

Running Time: 101 mins

This unique DVD package includes excerpts from the operas by Verdi, Rossini and Ponchielli from the successful New Year’s Day Concert in the Teatro La Fenice in 2004. Eight years after a huge f re burned down the grand opera house of Venice in 1996 the reopening was celebrated with a series of amazing concerts. The highlight was certainly the final concert which was broadcasted live by the Italian state television channel RAI and is now eternalized on this DVD. During the programme of great opera choruses and arias, orchestral music and ballet scenes the audience can not only admire the delightful music but also the restored glorious interior decoration.

Throughout the world, international opera stages have recently discovered the sheer talent of Italian soprano Stefania Bonfadelli and tenor Roberto Aronica who both contribute to the concert’s distinctive atmosphere. Ballet stars Greta Hodgkinson and Roberto Bolle glamorously supported the event through their beautifully expressive dancing. Besides the amazing performances of the singers and dancers, Lorin Maazel’s delectable conducting is highly enjoyable and makes this concert an unforgettable event.

Sound Format: PCM STEREO, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

DVD Format: DVD 5, NTSC

Picture Format: 4:3

Running Time: 59 mins

FSK: 0

This 2010 production of La Cenerentola, recorded at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, is set in modern times. On the rather empty, bare stage there are a few elements which stand out: the colourful costumes, the two giant chandeliers and the 1970’s kitchen. Quoting the director’s own words, “the emptiness of the stage leaves room for creativity as the characters keep on changing and disguising their true identity. I have stuck to Rossini’s original notes while neglecting all the legends linked to the character of Cinderella”.

This modern production directed by Claudio Abbado’s son Daniele Abbado, features the acclaimed Maxim Mironov, considered by critics as one of the most interesting Rossini tenors of his generation. Cenerentola (Cinderella) is performed by José Maria Lo Monaco, also a renowned Rossini specialist. The Orchestra & Chorus Fondazione Petruzzelli, Bari is conducted by Evelino Pido.

Sound format: 16:9

Picture format: LPCM 2.0

Region Code: 0

Running Time: 168 mins

Booklet notes: Ita / Eng / Fre / Ger

Subtitles: Fre, Eng, Ger, Spa, Ita

AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE

Set and Costume Designer MARINA DRAGHICI

Arthaus presents a production of Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri by renowned opera stage director Andrei Serban and conducted by Bruno Campanella from the prestigious Opéra National de Paris.

The excellent cast of singer-actors was led by international mezzo-star Jennifer Larmore who, with her unaffected contact with the audience, beautiful voice and excellent acting, is central to this staging. The American singer has acquired a reputation as a Rossini specialist, and is no stranger to inventive stagings of the composer’s comedies.

However, the work may be named after the Italian girl, but her adversary Mustafà is just as dominant, and this production has one of the leading exponents of this gleeful role, the buffo bass Simone Alaimo. Two other leading Rossini singers complete the cast: the tenor Bruce Ford, who is at the forefront of the revival of the composer’s operas, and whose Lindoro has been heard in the leading opera houses across Europe, and Alessandro Corbelli who makes the hapless Taddeo, insulted and mocked from his first appearance, into something more than a figure of fun, a fully-rounded character, with all his awkwardness, pretensions and timid eagerness to please.

Outrageous colours and incessant movement are the hallmarks of the production by director Andrei Serban and his designer Marina Draghici. In this production everything is outsize, from the protruding stomachs of the palace eunuchs to the huge ship we see sinking behind the captive Isabella.

Sound Format: PCM STEREO, DD 5.1

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Picture Format: 16:9

Subtitle Languages: GB, DE, FR, ES, IT

FSK: 0

Running Time: 148 mins